Chinese company starts heavy sands exploration in Mozambique

The launch of the Chibuto heavy sand exploration project is set to move ahead and its impact will radically change the quality of life of the population, the director of Mineral Resources and Energy of the Mozambican province of Gaza.

Castro Elias also told Mozambican state news agency AIM that Chinese company Dingsheng Minerals has already installed a sand processing plant with the capacity to process 10,000 tonnes of material a day.

He added that the Chinese company is currently preparing to install nine more platforms by mid-2019 to allow for the daily processing of 100,000 tonnes of sand.

The agency also reported that studies are underway to determine how best to distribute the ore extracted from the sands, and the construction of a port in the Chongoene region, about 15 kilometres from the city of Xai-Xai, the provincial capital of Gaza.

The initial project envisaged the construction of a railway line from Chibuto to Lionde in the Chókwè district from where the ore would be disposed of at the Matola terminal in Maputo province.

The source said that following more in-depth studies, the conclusion was that the construction of a port at Chongoene was more feasible, and the process is moving ahead in order to secure space for setting up that project at a very advanced stage.

The Chibuto heavy sands project will initially occupy an area of ​​10,000 hectares that in the future, depending on the growth of the project, could extend to another 15,000 hectares.